Coaching changes aplenty this CFL off-season

Mike Benevides has long been linked to be the heir apparent to Wally Buono as the head coach of the B.C. Lions. So on Monday afternoon, with the announcement that his boss was moving upstairs to be the vice-president of football operations of the franchise, Benevides, the Lions defensive coordinator, was not quite moving into a bigger office at the team’s Surrey headquarters.

Instead, he was finalizing plans to fly to Regina later this week to interview for the Saskatchewan Roughriders head coaching position. It is believed that Benevides presently has plans to visit with Rider brass on Saturday.

While a national report Monday evening stated Benevides is expected to be B.C.’s next coach (and, with the organization’s succession plan in place for months, he very well eventually could be), the sweepstakes for his services at the moment remain very much up for grabs.

Saskatchewan has received permission to speak with Benevides about the opening, but it is not believed Hamilton was granted the same go-ahead from Buono.

In Steeltown on Monday, the Tiger-Cats interviewed one of their own for the vacancy in the big chair at Ivor Wynne Stadium.

Sportsnet.ca learned the Tiger-Cats formally met with their defensive coordinator, Corey Chamblin, to audition for the head coaching job there. On Tuesday, Toronto Argonauts special teams coordinator Mike O’Shea, who like Chamblin has already interviewed in Regina, will meet with Hamilton general manager Bob O’Billovich about the Ti-Cats job.

Sources say the Tiger-Cat’s candidates are meeting only with O’Billovich at the moment. It is at the next interview stage where president Scott Mitchell and/or owner Bob Young may enter the equation.

Sportsnet.ca’s Perry Lefko has reported that former Calgary offensive coordinator George Cortez, now the quarterback’s coach of the Buffalo Bills, is in play as a candidate in both Vancouver and Hamilton.

Before Benevides makes his way to Saskatchewan for a visit — and between now and the weekend, who knows what will happen next in the CFL coaching carousel — the Roughriders will interview both Blue Bombers defensive coordinator Tim Burke and Calgary Stampeders offensive coordinator Dave Dickenson.